The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, in conjunction with Dallas Arts Month, announces a series of special programs to complement its special temporary exhibit, Art Reframes History—on view through Sunday, May 9, 2021.
Art Reframes History is a special installation comprised of works of art drawn from the Museum’s collections that explore a variety of ways artists interpret history. The creative voices in the exhibit span time and geography but share a common point of inspiration: the life and legacy of President Kennedy. Special programming—both in-person and virtual—will include in-person gallery talks, a self-guided mini tour and virtual programs and artist talks. More information at jfk.org/arthistoryprograms.
Gallery Talks:
At 11:30 a.m. each Friday through May 7, Museum Curator Stephen Fagin will be on hand in the exhibit for an informal gallery talk, taking a deeper look at two of the works of art featured in the exhibition: the photographic triptych, 21 November (2018) by Paul Sokal, and the photographic series, Conspiracy Theory #7: Dealey Plaza (1999) by Piet Wessing. Learn more about these artists, their inspiration and the meanings behind their contemplative pieces. The talks will provide historical insight and identify some interesting “easter eggs” hidden in plain sight within these works. Included with Museum admission.
Self-Guided Mini Tour:
Use our self-guided mini tour to explore Art Reframes History and discover how small details, or pixels, tell larger stories. The mini tour helps visitors examine the exhibit and discover small elements that change or are hidden from view. Discover how the slightest change can alter how we understand information presented to us. Available in English and Spanish.
Free Virtual Artist Conversations:
The Assassination of President Kennedy: A conversation with artist Gage Mace
Thursday, April 8 | 7 p.m. | YouTube.com/SixthFloorMuseum
Between 1992 and 1996, Portland, Oregon-based artist Gage Mace responded to the Kennedy assassination in a unique way—by painting a life-size triptych, measuring 4.5 feet by 14 feet, that depicted the shooting in Dealey Plaza from the perspective of an Elm Street eyewitness. The startling hyper realism of his painting, inspired by the Abraham Zapruder film, highlights and brings forward details of the moment immediately before the fatal shot. Mace’s interest in President Kennedy goes back to the early 1960s. As a ten-year-old, he saw the president in the lobby of the Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 19, 1962, and that brief encounter had a profound impact on his life. Mace joins Museum Curator Stephen Fagin in conversation to share his childhood memories and the story behind his painting, The Assassination of President Kennedy.
Fading Memories: In Honor of JFK: A conversation with artist Tansill Stough Anthony
Thursday, April 22 | 7 p.m. | YouTube.com/SixthFloorMuseum
Tansill Stough Anthony, an artist in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was in the second grade in 1963. Leading up to the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination in 2013, she created a series of eight paintings—including one inspired by a visit to The Sixth Floor Museum—entitled Fading Memories: In Honor of JFK. Using a unique painting technique to express the haziness of time and memory, Anthony explored subjects including the Kennedy family, the funeral in Washington and the Zapruder film, often drawing inspiration from historical photographs. Anthony joins Museum Curator Stephen Fagin in conversation to share her early memories of the assassination and discuss the Fading Memories series in detail, including a brief demonstration of her painting technique.
For the Museum’s Spanish-speaking visitors, there is a digital gallery guide to the installation, with the complete exhibition text available in Spanish. Explore the Spanish guide here.
Additional programs related to Art Reframes History include the Interrogating Art virtual program series:
A Conversation about Andy Warhol
A Conversation with Jens Lorenzen
A Conversation with Paul Sokal
A Conversation with Charles Wylie
Trauma, Tragedy and the Healing Power of Music virtual program
According to Nicola Longford, CEO of The Sixth Floor Museum, “The Museum is very pleased to take part in Dallas Arts Month by presenting this exhibit to showcase a little known, but important, aspect of the Museum’s collections.” She continued, “While we are primarily a history museum, we feel strongly that artists and creative voices play an important role in celebrating and exploring the legacy of President Kennedy and we are thrilled to present these examples of the many ways in which artists continue to find inspiration in his story, even today. In addition, we hope that these exciting programs offer our visitors a chance to connect more deeply with the myriad ways that artists have been inspired by history.”
Several of the works in the exhibit have never been on view at the Museum before, including Conspiracy Theory #7: Dealey Plaza (1999) by German artist, Piet Wessing, and 21 November (2018) by Dallas based photographer, Paul Sokal. Additional exhibit highlights include Flash – November 22, 1963 (1968) by Andy Warhol, a page from a handwritten score for One Red Rose (2013) which was composed by Steven Mackey to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination and examples of the Mauer IV series (2015)—partially inspired by primary sources from the Museum’s collection—by German artist Jens Lorenzen.